Concours d’Elegance Youth Judging Program Fuels a Lifelong Passion for Cars

By Robin Gee

Young people have been fascinated with cars practically since the first models rolled off the assembly line. In Cincinnati, kids and adults both have an opportunity to expand their interest, knowledge and involvement with cars at the Concours d’Elegance, an internationally recognized car show held annually in Ault Park.

This year’s event takes place on Sunday, June 8, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Concours d’Elegance highlights some of the most spectacular automobiles and motorcycles in the world. 

“Icons of British Motoring” is the theme for the 47th annual event. With more than 250 pristine vehicles on display, the event features 21 classes of classic, vintage and exotic automobiles and motorcycles.  The show also features special display classes: 100^th anniversary of Chrysler, Indian Motorcycles and Automotive Oddities: The Strange and Wonderful.

At Concours d’Elegance, the passion for museum quality cars and motorcycles also helps fuel a great cause. Proceeds from the event benefit Juvenile Arthritis programs in Ohio and Kentucky.

A special opportunity for young car enthusiasts 

The event brings car enthusiasts of all ages together, but offers a very special opportunity for youth to get involved. Organizers seek to engage the next generation through its Hagerty Youth Judging program at the event. The “Partnership for Youth,” in its 14^th year, is a program bringing together Concours d’Elegance and Hagerty, a company devoted to all things classic cars including insuring them, price guides, information and helping the classic car community grow and connect.   

Youth judges, ages eight to 15 , have the opportunity to participate in an informative session on basic car judging skills and interact with the chief concours judge. The Hagerty Youth Judges put their skills to the test, awarding three top finishers from a pre-selected group of display automobiles. 

Youth applications are open now, and 25 youth judges will be accepted. The application deadline is May 23. Each youth judge will receive two tickets to the event. The parent or guardian may, but is not required to, accompany the youth judge during the judging process. The judges also receive an official Hagerty Youth Judging hat, t-shirt and scorecard. Refreshments will also be provided.

“The Youth Judging Program brings a kid-friendly view to the world of classics. They will have the opportunity to talk with car owners to learn about the details and history about each vehicle and make their determination based on the scoring criteria,” noted Michael Kelly, long-time Cincinnati Concours volunteer who co-leads the Hagerty Youth Judging program. “As a result of being involved in our program, two prior Youth Judges have graduated to adult judging and have been active in car restoration,” he added.

A chat with Michael Kelly

Hyde Park Living sat down with Kelly to ask him more about the Hagerty Youth Judging Program as well as how he became involved and what involvement can mean for the next generation of car enthusiasts.

HPL: How did you get involved with Concours d’Elegance?

Kelly: I’ve been volunteering since 1995. I first got involved because my mom had arthritic hands, and it raised money for Arthritis Foundation and research, and I am now on the board of both the Cincinnati Concours and the Arthritis Foundation.

It’s been an interesting 30 years. I started out as an exhibitor, and then I became a volunteer for the racing class, which I still lead, and then tow crew, which I transitioned that to a friend of mine a few years ago, and Hagerty Youth Judging…I was familiar with some of the Hagerty people and the youth judging program. I proposed to the board that we adopt it. We run one of the largest, if not the largest program in the United States.

I have two kids that have gone on to be exhibitors, both who restored their cars. One will be on display this year, and one of the kids has gone on to be an adult judge…It has influenced a lot of kids over the years who have contacted me. They’ve started businesses and have done all kinds of stuff. The program makes a difference in kids’ lives. 

HPL: How many kids are selected to be judges each year?

Kelly: Normally, the program accepts 15. We have been in the 30s, and we’ve been granted that privilege because of the way we run the program. I was an engineer and finance guy for Procter and Gamble. So that implies lots of details, and I have a “very brief” six-page write up that tells what every single person involved with the Concours that the kids are affected by has to do…When the overall head of Hagerty Youth Judging came to visit us one year, she said, “Oh my gosh, your program is so good, you can have lots more kids.” So typically we have 25 to 30 kids.

HPL: What is the age range for those who want to participate? And, how can they get involved?

Kelly: Eight to 15, officially, but we’ve had them as young as five. We were once granted permission to have a 20-year-old in the program… he was a juvenile arthritis kid, and he had been in the hospital for years and never was able to walk around and participate. So all the powers that be at Hagerty gave me special permission to have him come and be a youth judge, even though he was outside our normal age range. Again, officially it is age eight to 15. 

They can apply to me [Mkelly11@cinci.rr.com] or co-chair John Mereness [johnmereness@gmail.com]…I have a spreadsheet of all the information we need, and I ask whoever it is, which is an adult in all cases, for that information, sign them up, and then in late May, I send them a nice, long email. Here’s the whole detailed plan of the day. 

HPL: So, the participants don’t need to know a lot about cars beforehand? They can come in without a lot of car knowledge?

Kelly: Yes. We do have a number of returning kids. I think we’ve run about 30% multi-year kids, but yes, they can come in cold. It’s not a very complicated process.

HPL: Please, walk us through what happens on the day of the event and how the kids are prepared to judge.

Kelly: The youth judges meet down at our remote shuttle parking the Fifth Third Center off Red Bank. We have a shuttle bus that brings them up. We give them refreshments, and so they’re ready for the day. We have a gentleman named Kip Wasenko, who has been a speaker for us for years. He is actually the chief judge of our Concours, and he was the head of design for General Motors for a number of years…The kids ask him questions, and usually parents ask him even more questions. 

Matt Pecikonis from Hagerty teaches them how the judging is going to work, which is a very easy format. They have five questions and multiple choices, and the kids put the scores on their scorecards. Our adult helpers total up what the scores are, and we award a first, second and third place trophy. The first place trophy is the first trophy of our award ceremony. Second and third go out before that award ceremony happens. The kids actually hand the trophy to the lucky winners. 

HPL: How does the judging happen? What cars are selected for judging?

Kelly: John and I, along with our co chair of car selection, pick the cars in advance. We pick interesting cars that the kids would not likely ever have a chance to see before or since, and that have very friendly owners who are happy to have them sit in the cars and honk the horn and turn the steering wheel and ask a lot of questions. 

The kids judge six cars officially, but we generally have 12 to 18 cars, pre-selected and discussed with the owners. If we skew younger, the kids take a little longer to figure things out. If we skew older, particularly if we’ve got a lot of returning judges, the kids know the deal, and they’re pretty fast with their judging, so we may judge nine or 12 cars instead of six. And we have backups in case any owner gets sick, or their trailer breaks down, or whatever. We’ve had all kinds of circumstances. So we’ve got a robust plan to make sure that kids have cars to look at with friendly owners.

John leads the youth judges. I’m one car ahead of them getting the next owner ready, and then I will quickly go back and say they’re ready for the next car. We do have a number of adult helpers. Besides Matt, we also have, typically one and sometimes two other Hagerty people with us. 

We have some people we’ve developed over the years to know the drill…They go along and make sure all the kids stay together and focused…It actually attracts a lot of attention from some of the other car exhibitors. And I’ll have questions, “Why are those kids at those cars? Why aren’t they at my car?” I tell them, “hey, next year, if you’re interested, we’ll come see your car.”

HPL: Sounds like this can really spark the kids’ interest in cars? Did you become interested as a young person?

Kelly: It absolutely does spark interest. I started working on cars when I was 10. It was my great uncle who sparked my interest. He had raced cards and motorcycles and could fix anything. He had been a plane mechanic for General Douglas McArthur. He was that good. He put the maintenance program together when we first deployed ICBM missiles, and when our first nuclear submarine sank, they sent him to figure out why it sank.

HPL: I understand you race cars. What are the cars you have?

Kelly: the car that I have raced most seriously is a 1999 Riley and Scott Mark III, a prototype car, and it was a Dyson team car. Dyson was one of the most successful teams, and still is a very successful team. And this car had the highest winning percentage of any of the Riley and Scotts under Dyson. I also raced an Aston Martin DB7, a Ferrari Testarossa and a Lotus Europa.

I’ve had 15 to 18 other cars I’ve raced, but those are the ones I own…I also have a Jaguar e type from 1966 that I’m restoring, a Harley Davidson Sportster, a Subaru WRX and a Ford F350 with a trailer to pull the race car to the track. And I have a Cadillac black wing coming. I tried to be a pro driver as a kid, and I got up to asking Sunoco for national sponsorship. And unfortunately, I asked that question in 1973 and they said, “Hey, kid, oil embargo. No sponsorships”…I started doing it again with my wife, and she drove the Testarossa from 1995 to 2013 when she hung up her driving gloves. And all three of my kids have been on the track.

HPL: That’s quite a lifetime with cars. It’s wonderful you’ve been able to parlay your interests and experience into the Concours and spread that enthusiasm to young people in our community.

Kelly: Yes, it’s a pretty big deal — and we’ve raised a lot of money for arthritis research. We are looking at two drugs now, one that could be a cure for arthritis and one that would be a non-opioid pain killer…hopefully both will be successful. 

For tickets and more on the Concours d’Elegance go to ohioconcours.com.

Cincinnati Concours Weekend of Events

Saturday, June 7:  

• Countryside Tour, noon. Participants meet at Mariemont Square for a scenic tour of the Cincinnati region.
• Hangar Party at Executive Jet Management’s hangar at Lunken Airport, 5 to 9 p.m. Advance-purchase tickets now available. 

Sunday, June 8, in Ault Park:

• Cincinnati Concours d’Elegance, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Parking will be at Fifth Third Bank Madisonville Operations Center with free shuttle to the show.
• Craft Beer Garden & Bourbon Tasting, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tickets are available day of show at the Beer Garden.
• Cincinnati Concours d’Elegance VIP Brunch, 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Ault Park Pavilion. Advanced purchase tickets available.